Former Wells Fargo commodities head left amid industry shift

Pekka Kauranen now heads commodities

John Roncevich, the former head of Wells Fargo & Co.’s commodities business, has left the lender and formed a venture to advise banks on ways they can sidestep some of the new regulations affecting the industry.

Roncevich departed in November after ceding oversight of the business in July, Elise Wilkinson, a bank spokeswoman, said via e-mail today. Roncevich joined Wells Fargo through its 2008 purchase of Wachovia Corp. and ran the sales and trading of physical commodities and derivatives. Pekka Kauranen now heads commodities trading at the San Francisco-based firm.

U.S. bankers are facing new regulations as the Dodd-Frank Act requires them to wall off some derivatives trades from units backed by federal deposit insurance. More than 64 bank units have already registered as swap dealers under the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires higher capital, collateral and trading standards.

In his new firm, Roncevich will provide “services to banks that allow them to deliver high-quality derivative, physical and structured commodities products for their clients in a way that eliminates or greatly reduces Dodd-Frank compliance costs and risk,” according to his LinkedIn profile.

Roncevich, who was based in Charlotte, North Carolina, declined to comment. The trade publication SparkSpread previously reported his departure.